Ivory by Lola Dodge (Manhattan Ten #2)
April 30, 2013
Paranormal Romance
Samhain
Reviewed by May
She was welcome to rescue me at any time. I’d be the damsel, no problem.
“Panther” is a member of the Manhattan Ten, the most elite team of superheroes there is. On a plane (on a mission) things suddenly go bad when the flight attendant, a woman named Valdis is forced to use her super powers on a would-be assassin right there on the commercial flight. Of course, he sees great potential in her and he decides to take her in to HQ.
“Come on. We’ve got a flight to New York.”
“This is madness.”
“This is Sparta.”
“We’re in Los Angeles.” What was wrong with this man? “And why are we going to New York?”
His broad shoulders shook with laughter. “Don’t go to many movies, do you?”
Valdis is given the name “Ivory” as her superhero identity, and while she has no intention of joining the Ten, or being a superhero, she can’t help but be intrigued by Panther and the other members of the team. She has her own secrets, her own troubled past, and her own problems. Why would she join this team when she’s no hero?
I’m a big fan of superhero romance, and this is one of the best I’ve read. Lola Dodge has a real talent for it, and none of the problem areas I had with her previous offering were issues here. Ivory is a strong, capable, wonderful woman whose strange upbringing and fear of her powers has kept her isolated from most all people.
Panther is a great match for her, because he is a predator and strong she does not see him as weak or prey. In fact, while he is instantly smitten she only really sees him as a potential partner when she realizes she’d like to hunt alongside him, not hunt him. I like that he is no pushover or weak guy, he’s huge and strong and capable. But he doesn’t get in-your-face alpha and it was nice to see a superhero character that didn’t have to be overly aggressive or too pushy. It made for a nice balance with the stone cold personality of Ivory.
This author does a fantastic job of bringing us into her world of superheroes and individuals with fantastic skills as well as developing a romance and start of a new relationship. I just wish that she would write stories that are longer. There is so much depth here in Ivory, so much information I would love to have and so many more details that I’d love to see fleshed out, the short length of this novella is a disappointment. There was so much more potential to be discovered here – I was very sad when the story ended. She made every word count and the story was satisfying, but given the complexity and depth this world has it really could have been a longer story.
I do not know where this author is heading with this series, or if/when we can expect more installments about the Manhattan Ten, but my hope is that she lets her stories grow into slightly longer length ones, and that we get a lot more satisfaction and details in future stories. This is a really cool world that she’s built, and I sincerely hope to see more of it in the very near future.
Grade: A-
Recent Reviews:
The Overstuffed Bookcase – 4/5
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